Nervous All Black Sonny Bill Williams honing skills for sevens debut
Code-hopping centre Sonny Bill Williams has shed three kilogrammes in preparation for his debut in the high-octane world of rugby sevens but has been unable to shake off the nerves about his Olympic endeavour.
The twice World Cup-winner took part in a training camp in Cambridge, New Zealand, this week ahead of the third leg of the Sevens World Series in Wellington at the end of January, where he is expected to be selected for the first time.
It was a bit of a wake-up call but in saying that, I know where I'm at and I know where I want to go
Williams has enjoyed success in rugby union and rugby league and was New Zealand’s heavyweight boxing champion but switched to sevens with an eye on winning a gold medal when the sport returns to the Olympic fold in Rio de Janeiro later this year.
The 30-year-old spent the week in the training camp trying to learn the ropes from his teammates as well as improve his fitness to match the much higher demands of the shorter version of the game.
“The first day we got in we did a beep test. Usually, in our [rugby union Super Rugby] franchises, we do a beep test but there's not too much after that,” Williams told New Zealand media on Wednesday.
“But then we came out here for what I think was about an hour of fitness games, and after 20 minutes I couldn’t get out of a jogging pace.